Setting "Expectations of Success" For That New Employee
While "throwing them in the deep end" might sound challenging
for a new employee, it can be a careless way to treat your new
investment. We recently heard of a new employee calling his wife
at lunchtime on his first day in the new job to say he was
coming home. The treatment, or lack of it, he received told him
he had made the wrong choice.
When recruiting it is important to note that appointing a
successful candidate is not the end of the process: we must now
determine that this person will make the required contribution
to your business. Once the successful candidate has been
appointed it is easy to sit back and relax. But the job is not
done yet.
We need to set some goals - for the benefit of the organization
and the employee. Starting a new job can be quite stressful -
what do I do first, what do they expect? This is why setting
"expectations of success" for the early stages is a very useful
technique. It keeps the initial stage of employment right on
track.
Choosing a period which is appropriate for the job is the first
step. This may be only a week or so for a routine position or
three months for a managerial job. Lining it up with at least
the probationary period is a good move.
While the key requirements of the job - what has to be done and
the appropriate behaviours, have been addressed before
recruitment we now need to consider what needs to be achieved or
demonstrated by the new employee by certain times for us to
consider the exercise to be a success.
Imagine you are going to convince your manager, or the Board,
that you recruited successfully - what must the new employee
have done over, say, the first three months.
There may be items such as; met and held discussions with key
staff; met key customers and understands their needs; prepared a
sales plan; made the first sale; prepared the first monthly
report under supervision.
These goals should be laid out in a progressive way so that the
individual can see what he or she must learn and carry out
during the early days and weeks. Progressively, these should
lead on to doing the whole job so that any shortfall will be
detected early enough to take action. This will relieve them of
a great deal of anxiety and allow them to perform.
It is also important to view the actions and achievements as
something actually demonstrated, not just something that you
think the person could do.
For example, by the end of the third month this employee should
have successfully completed the monthly report without
supervision. Not that you or they think they could, but rather
that they did do it.
If the expectations of success are written before the
recruitment exercise begins then they act as an extra check that
you covered all the "must haves" during the planning stage. It
is no good expecting someone to have written a plan in their
first month on the job if previous planning experience was not
on your list of key pieces of evidence to collect.
Most managers and new employees are broadly aware of the
existence of "probationary periods" in the early months of an
employment relationship. Having clear expectations of success
for this period makes it a very easy decision for both parties
to determine if the probationary period has been successful or
not.
If you have set the expectations of success well, and the
employee has achieved or surpassed them - fantastic: a good
recruitment exercise and you can confirm the employee. If the
employee has not achieved them, and was given the opportunity to
achieve them, then the chances are this is not a successful
"fit" and you may choose not to confirm the appointment.
Our experience is that, in most cases, managers who
procrastinate in the face of such clear evidence, and extend the
probationary period or appoint someone in the hope that "they'll
turn around", usually regret this decision and are faced with a
much more difficult and ongoing performance management or even
dismissal proceedings in several months' time.
Of course, delivering against the goals in expectations of
success will be in addition to going through a comprehensive
induction process which is also a key element of successful
recruiting.